In all honesty, I like what the state of Michigan is doing with their new standards. I wasn't too familiar with the old ones until the presentation today but after the presenter articulated what they were, I believe we are moving in the correct direction. One reason why I agree with the more hands-on approach because those were the classes in which I retained information best, such as my English and college science classes. Unfortunately, I barely recall any information I learned or activities in which I participated in elementary school because it was essentially modeled. Also, once learning the previous standards left out 8th grade in the curriculum, I was baffled. How can you make a curriculum and leave out a grade?! Another thing I disliked was they built it around standardized testing. Students should not be judged by standardized testing because those do not take into account the student's study habits or what they do in the free-time, and some kids who score well on tests could be lazy and unmotivated. I really like the incorporation of cross disciplinary integration. It would be easier to learn information easier instead of having it broken down into a single subject because, as mentioned in the presentation, it is really hard to breakdown individual subject, such as biology, when other subjects have concepts that are used in the subject. Also, I think it's good to introduce engineering to students when their younger because various people think they want to become engineers but after their first semester, they realize it isn't something they want to do, and introducing the subject to students earlier could help influence their career pathway. Giving the students options to do something about a specific topic allows students to be creative while getting their objective accomplished. It will take some adjusting for teachers at first but in the long run, it will pay off in the long run.
Photo credit: Lisle Community Schools.
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